1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to photographic slide mounting apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to apparatus for printing alphanumeric information on photographic slide mounts after a photographic film transparency has been mounted in the slide mount frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Photographic slides are produced by mounting a photographic film transparency in a slide mount frame so that the image of the photographic transparency is aligned with the aperture of the frame. A variety of different types of slide mount frames and mounting apparatus have been developed.
One particularly advantageous type of photographic slide mount is the Pakon slide mount, which is a one-piece plastic slide mount sold by Pako Corporation, the assignee of the present application. The Pakon slide mount is a unitary, preclosed mount which requires no folding or sealing after the film is inserted into the mount. Instead, the Pakon slide mount has an insertion slot which may be resiliently expanded by forces applied to the mount by a slide mounting machine to permit insertion of film into a receiving pocket in the mount. After the film has been inserted and cut, the forces applied to the mount are removed, and the spring-like properties of the plastic slide mount allow the mount to return to its original condition, with the insertion slot closed. The slide mount, with the film transparency in the receiving pocket, is then ready for use in a conventional slide projector.
U.S. patents showing slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus of this general type include the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Florjancic et al 3,341,960 Mundt et al 3,470,642 Mundt et al 3,478,456 Mundt et al 3,524,299 Mundt et al 3,562,074 Mundt 3,570,342 Mundt et al 3,614,854 Florjancic 3,788,031 Mundt et al 3,807,121 Mundt et al 3,943,029 Mundt et al 3,977,280 Urban 4,004,340 Urban et al 4,135,343 ______________________________________
The slide mounting apparatus used for mounting transparencies in Pakon slide mounts typically includes a magazine which holds empty slide mounts, a slide track which extends forward from the magazine, and a film track which is perpendicular to the slide track and which intersects the slide track at a film insertion station. The mounting apparatus pushes a lowermost slide mount out of the magazine and into the slide track. The insertion opening of the slide mount faces the film track, so that when the slide mount is aligned at the film insertion station and the insertion opening is resiliently opened, the leading end of the film can be advanced along the slide track into the slide mount through the insertion opening. The film transparency is severed from the end of the film strip and is then inserted the remaining distance into the slide mount, so that the image of the transparency is aligned with the aperture of the slide mount. As the next slide mount is pushed from the magazine into the slide track, it pushes the preceding slide mount from the film insertion station along the slide track toward a collecting basket. As successive mounting cycles of the apparatus occur, the slide mounts are sequentially advanced out of the magazine, along the slide track, and finally to the collecting basket.
In many cases, it is desirable to imprint information on a photographic slide mount after the photographic film transparency has been mounted in the slide mount frame. Numbering imprinters have been developed for use with photographic slide mounting apparatus which imprints numbers sequentially on the slide mounts. The imprinted numbers can be used by the customer to sort the slide mounts into sequential order, since the numbers correspond to the time sequence of the individual frames of the film.
While simply numbering the slide mounts is advantageous, there has been an increasing desire for further information to be printed on the slide mount. This information, which is in alphanumeric form, may include, for example, the customer's name, the photofinisher's name, the name of the scene contained in the slide mount, or the date the slide mount was produced, together with a sequential slide number.
Automatic slide mounting apparatus which includes the capability of printing alphanumeric messages on slide mounts has also been developed. examples of this type of equipment include equipment manufactured by Loersch Corp. and apparatus manufactured by Byers Photo Equipment Company. This equipment includes a slide track for the finished photographic slide (i.e. a slide mount with photographic film transparency mounted therein) which extends away from the station at which the film transparency is mounted. This slide track is generally horizontal and parallel to the film track along which the web of photographic film is advanced. As the finished slide mount is advanced away from the mounting station, it is moved past a stationary print head. Individual letters and numbers are imprinted on the slide mount as it is moved past the print head. The print head is a matrix of individual print elements which strike an ink ribbon to transfer ink onto the slide mount as the slide mount is advancing past the print head.
While the Loersch and Byers imprinters are usable in conjunction with the particular slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus manufactured by those companies, they are not usable with other types of slide mounting apparatus. In particular, there is a need for printing apparatus for use in conjunction with the Pakon slide mounts and slide mounting apparatus. This type of mounting apparatus differs from the other mounts and mounting apparatus in that the Pakon slide mount is preclosed, and is advanced along a slide track which is perpendicular to the film track. There is a continuing need for an improved printing apparatus for use in conjunction with photograhic slide mounting apparatus which is reliable, which provides flexibility in the alphanumeric information to be printed, which is capable of high production rates, which is consistent and compatible with operation of Pakon slide mounter apparatus, and which does not significantly increase the size of the slide mounting apparatus in order to provide the printing functions.